Sliding sleeve assembly for a hydraulically set well packer

ABSTRACT

A sliding sleeve assembly for opening the setting port of a hydraulically set well packer which may be reversibly positioned for actuation in either an upwardly or downwardly direction. A shearable plug initially blocking the setting port and positioned in an elongate recess in the packer which extends equal distances on either side of the setting port with a shoulder at each end of the recess and a sliding sleeve telescopically positioned in the recess and in engagement with the plug whereby when the sleeve is longitudinally moved the plug is sheared. One end of the sleeve extending from the axis of the port a distance equal to one-half the length of the recess whereby the one end will engage one of the shoulders at the end of the recess and said sleeve may be positioned in the recess for actuation in either the upwardly or downwardly direction. The sleeve including an actuation shoulder positioned on one side of the plug when the sleeve is in engagement with the plug and including a wedge-shaped shoulder on the second side of the plug protecting the plug but allowing passage of a setting tool. The shoulders at the ends of the recess being tapered for retracting a setting tool after the sleeve is shifted in the recess.

United States Patent [72] lnventor: James H. Current, Houston, Tex.

[73] Assignee: Cameo, Incorporated, Houston, Tex.

[22] Filed: Nov. 27, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 93,023

[52] US. Cl. ....166/l79, 166/120 [51] Int. Cl ..E2lb 23/00 [58] Field otSearch ..166/l20, 122,212, 179

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,072,204 1/1963 Brown ...l66/120 3,122,205 2/1964 Brown et al..... ...166/l20 3,265,132 8/1966 Edwards, Jr. 166/120 3,361,209 1/1968 Edwards, Jr. ..l66/l20 lllllllii Current Feb. 29, 1972 [54] SLIDING SLEEVE ASSEMBLY FOR A HYDRAULICALLY SET WELL PACKER [57] ABSTRACT A sliding sleeve assembly for opening the setting port of a hydraulically set well packer which may be reversibly positioned for actuation in either an upwardly or downwardly direction. A shearable plug initially blocking the setting port and positioned in an elongate recess in the packer which extends equal distances on either side of the setting port with a shoulder at each end of the recess and a sliding sleeve telescopically positioned in the recess and in engagement with the plug whereby when the sleeve is longitudinally moved the plug is sheared. One end of the sleeve extending from the axis of the port a distance equal to one-half the length of the recess whereby the one end will engage one of the shoulders at the end of the recess and said sleeve may be positioned in the recess for actuation in either the upwardly or downwardly direction. The sleeve including an actuation shoulder positioned on one side of the plug when the sleeve is in engagement with the plug and including a wedge-shaped shoulder on the second side of the plug protecting the plug but allowing passage of a setting tool. The shoulders at the ends of the recess being tapered for retracting a setting tool after the sleeve is shifted in the recess.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures ti l! I T lllllllll lllllll llLlHl PATENTEI] FEB 29 I972 sum 2 or 3 Jame; b. (u/re INVENTOR.

BY %M Afro/aw;

SLIDING SLEEVE ASSEMBLY FOR A I-IYDRAULICALLY SET WELL PACKER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I-Iydraulically set well packers, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,456,723, are old. And the use of sliding sleeves initially covering the setting port in order to prevent premature setting of the packer, such as when packers are used in tandem spaced one below another, is old. However, for various reasons, it may be preferred to actuate the sliding sleeve by either an upward movement or a downward movement. In the past this has required separate packers depending upon the mode of actuation desired.

The present invention is directed to the improvement in a sliding sleeve assembly which may be reversibly positioned in the packer for actuation in either an upwardly or downwardly position as desired whereby a single packer model may be used regardless of the mode of actuation.

SUMMARY The present invention is directed to an improvement in a sliding sleeve assembly for opening of the setting port of a hydraulically set well packer which may be positioned in the packer for actuation in either an upwardly or downwardly position.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a reversible sliding sleeve assembly having a shearable plug initially blocking the setting port and an elongate recess in the packer body extending an equal distance on either side of the setting port with a shoulder at each end of the recess with a sliding sleeve telescopically positioned in the recess and in engagement with the plug whereby when the sleeve is longitudinally shifted the plug is sheared opening the setting port.

- One end of the sleeve extends from the axis of the port a distance equal to one-half the length of the recess whereby said one end of the sleeve is in engagement with one of the shoulders at the end of the recess so that the sleeve may be positioned in the recem for actuation in either the upwardly or downwardly direction, but the sleeve and abutting shoulder will prevent accidental shearing of the setting plug in the opposite direction.

A still further object of the present invention is the improvement of a reversible sliding sleeve assembly wherein the sleeve includes an actuating shoulder positioned on one side of the setting plug when the sleeve is in engagement with the plug and includes a wedge-shaped shoulder on the second side of the plug protecting the plug from, but allowing easy passage of, a setting tool through the sleeve.

A further object of the present invention is the improvement of a reversible setting sleeve assembly wherein the shoulders at the end of the recess include tapered surfaces retracting the setting sleeve after the sleeve has been shifted and the plug sheared.

Other and further features and advantages will be apparent from the description of the structure and operation of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C and ID are fragmentary elevational views, partly in cross section, illustrating one type of hydraulically set well packer utilizing the present invention which drawings are a continuation of each other,

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention will be described, for convenience only, as applied to the hydraulic set packer described in US. Pat. No. 3,456,723 although it is to be understood that the present invention may be utilized in any suitable hydraulic settype packer.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1A through 1D, the-packer of the present invention is generally indicated by the numeral 10. The packer 10 includes the usual packer seal means generally indicated by the numeral 18 and a slip assembly generally indicated by the numeral 20, both of which are shown in their retracted positions. The packer 10 also includes a mandrel 22, which for convenience includes an upper portion 24 and a lower portion 26 secured together, and internal passageway 28 in communication with a running in string (not shown) for receiving hydraulic fluid to mt the packer and includes at least one setting port 30 for passage of the hydraulic pressure for setting the slip assembly 20 and the packer seal means 18.

A lower slip cone 54 is provided secured to the mandrel 26 and positioned against the lower end of the slips 74 of the slip assembly 20. A hydraulically actuated slip expanding means which includes slip setting sleeve 56 is provided above the slip assembly 20 and includes an upper movable slip cone 58 and a piston 60 which is exposed to hydraulic pressure in a chamber 31 which communicates with port 30 for actuation of the piston 60 for expanding the slip assembly outwardly and into engagement with a well casing (not shown).

A hydraulically actuated packer seal expanding means includes packer seal setting sleeve 44, the upper end 46 of which is positioned adjacent the bottom of the seal means 18, and the lower end of which is provided with a piston 48 and which is exposed to hydraulic pressure in the chamber 31 for movement upwardly against the packer seal means 18 for setting the seal 18.

A one-way clutch 66 is provided between the slip setting sleeve 56 and sleeve 44 and a one-way clutch 53 is provided between the sleeve 44 and the mandrel 24 allowing the slip assembly 20 to be expanded and locked in position and to allow the packer seal means 18 to be expanded and locked in the expanded position.

Thus, hydraulic pressure may be applied through the passageway 28 and through the setting port 30 and against both of the pistons 48 and 60 for allowing the slip setting sleeve 56 to move downwardly carrying the upper slip cone 58 to expand the slip assembly 20 into setting engagement and after which the seal setting sleeve 44 is moved upwardly to compress and expand the packer seal means 18 outwardly into a sealing relationship. The above named description and operation is more fully described in US. Pat. No. 3,456,723.

While, of course, the setting port 30 may be opened at all times if desired, a sliding sleeve means for initially blocking the port 30 may be provided to initially close the setting port 30 and after the packer is placed in position a setting or shifting tool is passed to the packer to shift the sliding sleeve to uncover the port for setting the packer. Sometimes it is desirous to move the sliding sleeve in a particular direction. For exam ple, a stronger upward jar may be obtained for moving the sleeve upwardly than downwardly. However, if all of the sliding sleeves in a tandem installation are set for upwardly move ment and the lower most packer is set first and fails to obtain a good seal, which requires the entire tandem installation to be removed, the upwardly setting shifting tool will open the ports of all of the upper packers as it is withdrawn from the tubing string, and necessitate redressing all the packers which is undesirable. This can be avoided by providing packer setting port sliding sleeves in a tandem installation which are actuated by a downward movement.

But since the prime purpose of a packer of the type described in this invention when used in tandem installations is to provide means to set and test the lowermost packer first and then set and test the second lowermost packer, etc., up

the hole, a shifting tool such as an Otis Model B retractable shifting tool assembly may be utilized and provided with means to allow the tool to be initially passed downwardly through the upper packers without shifting the sliding sleeves downward but upon manipulation of the shifting tool lowering in means will activate the shifting tool into the downwardly shifting configuration. In this case, should one of the lowermost packers not set properly, the shifting tool may be withdrawn from the tubing string without disturbing the packer setting port sliding sleeves in the upper packers. However, it can be appreciated that the shifting tool for operating more than one packer sliding sleeve in a downward direction in a sequence from the lowermost packer upward is complicated to operate. Therefore, it is desirable to have hydraulically set packers with sliding sleeves that may be actuated downwardly and some packers that are actuated by an upward shifting movement of the sleeve. In the past, it has been necessary for an operator to carry one inventory of packers which will be operable by downward movement and a second inventory of packers which will be operable by an upwardly releasing sliding sleeve in order to provide packers which will be operable in the desired direction. Patent application entitled Sliding Sleeve Assembly for a Hydraulically Set Well Packer filed concurrently herewith by James H. Current and Marion D. Kilgore, discloses one type of sliding sleeve assembly which may be positioned in a packer for shifting to an open position by either upward or downward actuation.

The present invention is directed to providing a sliding sleeve assembly which may be reversibly positioned in the packer for shifting to an open position by either upward or downward actuation.

Referring now to FIGS. 1C, 2 and 3, a shearable plug 62 may be provided in the setting port 30. The plug 62 is preferably hollow and thus when the plug end 64 is sheared the fluid may flow from the internal passageway 28 in the packer into the chamber 31 for actuating the packer. The internal passageway 28 of the packer includes an elongate tubular recess 66 which may be formed between the ends of mandrel sections 24 and 26. A shoulder 68 and 70 are provided at opposite ends of the recess 66 and a sliding sleeve 72 is telescopically positioned in the recess 66 for movement therein. Initially, the sliding sleeve 72 is in engagement with the shearable setting plug 62, here shown as the plug 62 being in an annular groove 73 in the sleeve 72. Thus, as the sliding sleeve 72 is shifted longitudinally, the end 64 of the setting plug 62 is sheared to open the port 30 to set the packer.

It is to be noted that the shoulders 68 and 70 at the ends of the recess 66 are both equal distance from the axis of the setting port 30 and that one end 81 of the setting sleeve 72 extends from the axis of the setting port 30 a distance equal to one-half of the length of the recess 66 thereby engaging one of the shoulders 68 or 70 at the ends of the recess 66 when the sleeve 72 is in engagement with the setting plug 62. Thus, and referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the setting sleeve 72 may be positioned for a sliding movement in the recess 66 in a longitudinal direction, either upwardly or downwardly as desired, without requiring any change in the remainder of the packer 10.

The sliding sleeve 72 includes an actuating shoulder 76 which is preferably positioned on a first side of the setting plug 62 and a wedge-shaped or tapered shoulder 78 on the second side of the plug 62 which protects the plug from accidental shearing by a setting tool and aids in guiding the setting tool through the sleeve 72.

It is to be noted that since the shoulder 81 of the setting sleeve engages one of the shoulders 68 and 70, the sleeve 72 is prevented from movement in the nonsetting direction and thus avoids any accidental shearing of the setting plug by the passage of the tools through the setting sleeve 72.

The shoulders 68 and 70 at the end of the recess 66 may also include tapered surfaces 69 and 71, respectively, which act on the setting tool and assist in disengaging the setting tool from the sliding sleeve 72 after the sleeve 72 has been shifted. The sleeve 72 may also include an opening 80 through the wall which is positioned to be aligned with the port 30 when the sleeve 72 is shifted to its new position for more easily allowing the flow of hydraulic fluid into the port 30.

In use, the setting sleeve 72 may be assembled when the packer 10 is assembled either in the position shown in FIG. 2 in which the setting sleeve is actuated by a sliding upward movement, or as shown in FIG. 3, in which the setting sleeve 72 is actuated by a downward movement.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a conventional shifting tool, such as Otis Model B, is shown in dotted outline as 82 which may be passed downwardly through the setting sleeve 72 and thereafter released as is conventional so that on upward movement the shifting tool 82 will engage shoulder 76 and on an upward jar will shear shearable plug 62 and the sleeve 72 will be moved upwardly allowing opening 80 to be aligned with the port 30. Upon upward shifting of the sleeve 72 fluid from the internal passageway 28 in the packer 10 will flow through the sheared plug 62 and set the packer 10. It is to be noted that when the shifting tool moves downwardly through the sleeve 72 it will engage the tapered shoulder 78 which prevents the setting plug 62 from being accidentally sheared by downward movement of the setting tool 82.

Furthermore, since the setting sleeve 72 is in abutment with one of the shoulders 68 and 70 at the end of the recess 66, the sleeve 72 will not be accidentally moved downwardly by the shifting tool 82 to accidentally shear plug 62. After the sleeve 72 shifts to an upward position, the tapered shoulder 69 will contact and retract the shifting tool 82 thereby releasing the tool 82 from the shoulder 76 on the setting sleeve 72.

The downwardly moving setting sleeve 72, as best seen in FIG. 3, is actuated by a shifting tool 84 shown in dotted outline, which may be a conventional shifting tool such as an Otis Model B, or a modification thereof, which on downward movement through passageway 28 will engage the actuating shoulder 76 on sleeve 72 and upon jarring the tool 84 the sleeve 72 will shear the setting plug 62 allowing hydraulic fluid pressure to flow from the passageway 28 through port 30 to actuate and set the packer.

The present invention, therefore, is well adapted to carry out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as others inherent therein.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hydraulically set well packer having a setting port in communication with an internal passageway the improvement in a sliding sleeve assembly for opening the port comprising,

means initially blocking the setting port,

said internal passageway including an elongate recess extending equidistance on either side of the setting port,

a shoulder at each end of the recess,

a sliding sleeve telescopically positioned in the recess and in engagement with the initially blocking means whereby when the sleeve is longitudinally moved the initially blocking means is opened,

said sleeve including an actuating shoulder facing in one direction for engagement by a shifting tool for moving the sleeve in the second direction,

one end of the sleeve extending from the axis of the port a distance equal to one-half the length of recess whereby said end will engage one of the shoulders at the end of the recess when the sleeve is in engagement with the initially blocking means and said sleeve may be positioned in the recess for actuation of the sleeve in either the first or second direction.

2. The apparatus of claim I wherein the sleeve includes an opening through the wall positioned to be aligned with the port when the sleeve is actuated.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the shoulders at the ends of the recess include tapered surfaces retracting a setting tool after the sleeve has been shifted.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said initially blocking means is a shearable plug.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the actuating shoulder on the sleeve is positioned on one side of the plug when the sleeve is in engagement with the plug and including,

a wedge-shaped shoulder on the second side of the plug protecting the plug from but allowing easy passage of a setting tool in said one direction. 

1. In a hydraulically set well packer having a setting port in communication with an internal passageway the improvement in a sliding sleeve assembly for opening the port comprising, means initially blocking the setting port, said internal passageway including an elongate recess extending equidistance on either side of the setting port, a shoulder at each end of the recess, a sliding sleeve telescopically positioned in the recess and in engagement with the initially blocking means whereby when the sleeve is longitudinally moved the initially blocking means is opened, said sleeve including an actuating shoulder facing in one direction for engagement by a shifting tool for moving the sleeve in the second direction, one end of the sleeve extending from the axis of the port a distance equal to one-half the length of recess whereby said end will engage one of the shoulders at the end of the recess when the sleeve is in engagement with the initially blocking means and said sleeve may be positioned in the recess for actuation of the sleeve in either the first or second direction.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the sleeve includes an opening through the wall positioned to be aligned with the port when the sleeve is actuated.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the shoulders at the ends of the recess include tapered surfaces retracting a setting tool after the sleeve has been shifted.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said initially blocking means is a shearable plug.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the actuating shoulder on the sleeve is positioned on one side of the plug when the sleeve is in engagement with the plug and including, a wedge-shaped shoulder on the second side of the plug protecting the plug from but allowing easy passage of a setting tool in said one direction. 